Meet Emily

Here is Emily, a 3D girl by image metrics. Still looks fake if you look long and close enough but real enough to be posted here. ;)



Via BlenderNation.

Senior Citizen Program and Anti-ISA

While getting my parents registered for the Mesra Usia Emas program (a program for Selangor senior citizens 60 years and above which initially offers RM2,500 upon demise of the individual but will hopefully offer more in the future like medical benefits, according to a rep) at a local DAP centre, I got me eyes set on an anti-ISA badge there. :)

Naughty Christmas

Did you have a naughty Christmas? I had to post this here the moment I saw it at Super Punch. :D

Cheers! Another year to get older!

... And wiser! :)

Pandas @ Taiwan

I have been slow to blog about this as various medias have already reported the arrival of Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan at Taiwan. The two pandas' names when combined to Tuan Yuan means unite - which reminds me of the reunion dinner every Chinese New Year Eve. :)

Good news as this may seem, I do have some reservations of China using pandas, such innocent creatures these cute animals are, for diplomatic purposes. Imagine if humans were sent around this way... how would the humans feel? Well, I suppose sacrifice the minority for the good of the world would be a reason... :(

Polycarbonate Danger!!!

Update 25 December 2008: Health Ministry says polycarbonate bottles are safe based on research. Also read about how the poor in Indonesia purify their drinking water here.

I remember plenty of warnings from friends, the net and e-mails not to store and drink water from those 1.5 litres (used to be just 1.25L until our appetite became larger :p). I mean, it is so common here in Malaysia - and I suppose in many other countries - to clean the bottle after finishing the carbonated drinks or mineral water that came in the bottles and then use them to store our normal drinking water. So convenient, so easy, so disposable.

Then, the warnings came NOT to use them, especially those with low numbers (numbers inside the recycle logo). The ones we often use comes with the number "1". I never believed those warnings so I continued to use them. *SHY*

Today, the Star Online proved that water bottles or containers with higher numbers are not safe... well, at least those marked with PC (polycarbonate) or with the number "7". Excerpts:

He said that such bottles can be identified by a number seven inside a triangle with the letters PC next to it.

“The bottles are being sold everywhere and people think they are safe as they can withstand high temperature liquids.

“But researchers have found out that BPA can leach into the bottle’s contents through normal wear and tear, exposure to heat and cleaning agents,” he said.

Mohamed Idris claimed that a study conducted by the University of Missouri found that the chemical can even leach into liquids at room temperature.

“This finding is alarming and I urge the Education Ministry and parents to ban the use of the bottles in schools and for the people to restrain from using polycarbonate or any other plastic bottles,” he said.

He said that steel or glass bottles are preferred and cost about the same as the polycarbonate bottle at around RM12.

Joy To Myanmar Children

Remember e-mails that say every time you forward that particular e-mail, Microsoft or whatever company will track it and donate x amount of money to certain charities? I really don't know how true those can be but I would just delete them. This Christmas, there is something reliable with similar in concept from Nokia:
I believe this one, since it is in Nokia's website. Just go to the website http://www.nokia.com/sa1/seasonGreetingsweb/, click on "Send a UNICEF E-card" and just fill up the blanks. Nokia will donate something to UNICEF in aid of Myanmar's children in education. Joyous Christmas and Happy New Year to the children and generous Nokia and helpful UNICEF.

Via Symbian Freak.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport Low Cost Carrier Terminal

Update 31 January 2009: Looks like the Negeri Sembilan LCCT is a no go. Instead Malaysia Airports will be building a permanent one at KLIA... more confusion!

Check out the official name of our Low Cost Carrier Terminal above which is normally shortened to just LCCT. Last night, I have the joy of experiencing the just opened extended arrival hall. The walk from the aircraft to this extended arrival terminal is a true representative of the official long name of the LCCT. It took what felt like an eternity to reach this new terminal, especially carrying my boss' 8kg of nuts which he asked me to bring back and pass to his son. After that, we had to take this escalator up to the immigration and then take an escalator down to visit the duty free shop and collect check-in baggage. Once out of the airport, another long walk to catch the cab. You pay less, you walk more, alright?

And then, just now I read that this extended arrival hall costs RM160 million. AND before that, I read that the Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar said that a new LCCT is being built in Nilai by the private sector Sime Darby to replace the current one (which was only opened a few short years ago). What a lot of unused airports around. First there was the old Subang one which part of it is now getting used again and then the current LCCT which will be replaced. So the Menteri Besar said the new one was fully funded by the private sector but what about the old one that has just been extended? Hmmm... I really can't digest this. Maybe I had been carrying too many nuts last night. No, boss, if you are reading this, I did not eat any of your nuts.

Source: Star Online "Extended arrival hall at LCCT opens" and "Proposed LCCT to be privately funded"

Oh, by the way, I bought a 350ml bottle of Spritzer for RM4 during flight and finished it in less than 5 small gulps (approx.).

From flickr: 石竹

石竹
Originally uploaded by Tugen.Wang.

What a great idea from Tugen.Wang! Combining one of my favourite childhood cartoons and one of my favourite cutesy animals - an Autobot Transformer Panda!

Via Super Punch.

HAH! All you evil pixel peepers, take this!

That's right! For those evil ones that like to zoom in photographs at 100% and look at pixels, What The Duck's got something in store for ya!

Christian The Lion From Harrods

An article in Star Online (which was talking about the possibility of our local aphrodisiac going on sale in Harrods) first brought my attention to Christian the Lion but the link provided didn't seem to work. I did a quick search with "Harrods Lion" in Youtube and a list of videos came up. Selected the first one and what a touching story it is. Who said lions are totally wild? You be the judge:

Cool 12 Days of Christmas Indian Version

A friend shared this with me and I find it cool! Must share with whoever you are that's reading this. :)

Too Tasty

I'm sure the advertise wanted me to interpret this differently but my first thought was that after one taste, I would return this bottle of wine. :P

Handphone Hunt #6 - Nokia E71

After more than a year since my last handphone lust, I have sort of up the ante and now am wishing for a Nokia E71. Went to a stall to actually hand hold one but ended up holding a dummy, but I was told it is very close to the real thing. So close that the fingerprint issue on the chrome body is such a reality! Besides that, I read in reviews that the LED flash will not function as a flashlight. Urgh! But I read the stripped down model that is the E63 (not in retail yet) could do it.

This E71 looks much cooler than the E61 and E61i in the sense that it is not so wide. The E71 is mainly for the business people on the go, which I am not. I prefer to sit and rot a bit, but still I like the phone's many features:

1. HSDPA and 3G (really a fan of these two supposedly fast wireless connection to the internet but they are still way too expensive)!
2. Wifi! Surf at home or at a cafe with wifi!
   
3. 3.2MP autofocus camera, though the quality of any camera on phones is a big, big suspect.
   
4. A tiny little QWERTY keyboard! If my fingers were any bigger, I might be pressing two buttons at one go, though.
5. Infrared so that I can transfer over contacts from my ancient classic phone.
6. Bluetooth! Sync with the computer!
   

Things that are nice on the phone which I don't really care for: Microsoft Exchange, GPS, non-flashlight LED, mobile VPN, video and music players, blah, blah.

Oh yeah, the stall that I went to said it costs RM1,699 while the recommended retail price is RM1,799. Kinda steep for me so I will just keep wishing for it. Andrewk said he will go buy 4D when I finally buy a new phone. ;)

Meanwhile, do check out the touchscreen Nokia 5800, too - the one you saw in The Dark Knight that was equipped with sonar capabilities.

Note: Photo from Nokia Malaysia's website. Darn it, I did not notice the hand tool on the qwerty keyboard when I ripped that screen but am too lazy to correct that now.

Datuk Low Siew Moi

On what my office calls B.O.S.S. (Birthday of Sultan of Selangor) day, Low Siew Moi, the acting general manager of the Selangor State Development Corporation or PKNS, was awarded datukship. Normally it would not interest me in anyway because we Malaysians have too many of them. Some really good ones and some huh? who? why that dirty #&@#$ ones.

However, she is of particular importance because her appointment as acting general manager sparked controversy amongst locals (in the minority, I hope). It had also been used as a platform for criticisms by some politicians. Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Quiet Airports

I've always been 'envious' of other major cities' airports compared to our own Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) because these airports were very, very, very busy. 'Envious' because in awe on the amount of people moving in and out of those countries but I actually like KLIA's rather quiet and slow pace. Shorter queues, less human frictions. :P

So, imagine my surprise when I read this! A country like Japan with more than one airport that struggle to get airlines to fly there. The latest would be their upcoming Ibaraki Airport (in March 2010) which have yet to have any airlines agreeing to fly there. Interestingly, officials are in talks with low cost carriers and one of them is our very own AirAsia X. Maybe, very soon anyone can fly to Japan but the grass may not be greener on the other side after all.

My Mouse Is One In A Billion!

Another something from Engadget. Today, it serves the news that Logitech shipped its one billionth mouse and I've got one some months ago. I am a contributor, too, Logitech. The back of my mouse indicates patent pending and made in China. :)
Besides that, check out the P4, Logitech's first mouse. Click on Engadget's link above.

Malaysians Get A Mention on Engadget

Engadget's sarcasm hits the right notes most of the time, and for its latest article on the release of Windows Vista Service Pack 2, the technology website had a go at Malaysian kids that like to boast about how they broke the Vista SP1 and XP SP3 release schedules to the world. :)

From Pixdaus: Panda Greetings!

Hi!

Ethics, Dilemma and Working Tomorrow

While I struggle to get myself to bed because I have to work tomorrow, someone some where is facing a dilemma about downloading a pirated e-book where the physical hardcopy is no longer published.

Good night!

You're Tongued!

Took this while observing hamsters for sale in Carrefour Mid Valley. It was really fun especially when I saw them scrambling to run on the wheel thing. Then I saw this one busy licking on this part of the glass. Was so tempted to get a couple but knowing I am not good with pets... sigh...

Black Friday?

What is Black Friday? This was all over the internet and after awhile, my normal non-curious self got a little too curious and went to define: black friday. The results were totally different from what it appeared to be - all were in the negative sense. On various webpages, there were advertisements on discounts and more discounts on this Black Friday. After awhile, my don't-give-a-damn self got the better of me and I forgot all about it until I came to this page that defines the true meaning of the current Friday:

The day after Thanksgiving in the United States. Retailers generally see an upward spike in sales and consider this to be the start of the holiday shopping season. It's common for retailers to offer special promotions and to open early to draw in customers.

and...

The idea behind the term "Black Friday" is that this is the day in which retail stores have enough sales to put them "in the black" - an accounting expression that alludes to the practice of recording losses in red and profits in black.

We Want to Ban Plastic Bags!

The government is thinking of doing it. The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is studying this possibility to be implemented in supermarkets and wet markets. Great for the environment. China already did it.

Source: Star Online "Govt may ban use of plastic bags"

Rainbow on the way home...

Saw a rainbow on the way home. Messed around with Gimp to try to bring out the rainbow and ended up with this:

From The Lost and Directionless Blog

Negative Digital Camera Outlook in 2009 and Beyond...

Definitely heard enough about the world economy plunging into a huge crisis but so far, I have not heard of anyone talking about digital camera sales going down. PhotographyBLOG has a link to this Reuters article where Canon painted a slightly gloomy picture (would it be more suitable if I said Canon shot a slightly gloomy photo?) of the digital camera market in the near future, blaming on the terrible world economic crisis we are all facing now.

Maybe then we will get cheaper cameras... hmm?

INSANE Rumours - Death of Bruce Wayne!

Update 29 November 2008: Phew! Rumour is rumour and it cannot be trusted. IMDb just posted an updated article here confirming that Batman/Bruce Wayne lives and will return. Phew, phew, phew!

I take it IMDb's entertainment news are rather trustworthy so their info about the possibility of killing off Bruce Wayne in DC's upcoming Batman comic this Thursday is more attention grabbing than anything! I still find it hard to swallow that an iconic hero like Batman, especially with the recent mega success in the cinemas will be killed off. NOOOooooo...

INSANE: Thumbdrive Prices

I was totally heartbroken today when I saw that the price of thumbdrives have dropped by 50% since I last bought my 8GB thumbdrive. I had mine about half a year ago for RM98 and today I saw the same 8GB below RM50. You can have a 4GB one for RM26. GASP!

Too bad this doesn't happen to laptops and digital cameras! Price slashed by half in 6 months! It would be a miracle! :'(

From Pixdaus: Upside Down Panda

Am sick but went to work anyway and I guess tomorrow will be the same. Whatever it is, this photo sure cheered me up! :P

Working Cops

My colleague and I got lost while looking for a customer a couple of days ago and we stopped by a petrol station to ask for directions. While we got out of the car, we saw a couple of kids - a boy and a girl - probably underage, hanging around on their motorcycle just outside the toilet. Did not really think much of it until a couple of policemen drove past and stopped their car to question the couple.

They actually did an extensive check. They checked their IDs, searched through the couple's bags, recorded something on their clipboard and don't know what else as when we left, they were still at it. I am not too sure about how proper it is about checking citizens' bags but at least to me, these policemen appeared to be performing their duty.

Phew!

Humans Decoded Mammoth DNA

Looks like super powerful computers are really bringing science of the past way forward. The latest news would be this one from National Geographic News. Scientists have decoded the entire DNA strain of the mammoth - extinct, huge, hairy mammals that resembles the elephants that we know. The scientists are also talking about the possibility (though still a little far fetched at the moment) of cloning mammals by using an elephant's egg through some complex genetic manipulations.

Maybe in another century or two, we might be thinking of cloning elephants, too, if poaching continues to threaten them.

INSANE: Megapixel Race Infecting Mobile Phone Cameras

Looks like Sony is at it again. They started this year's megapixel race for compact digital cameras and now the company is doing it again by announcing its 12.25 megapixel CMOS sensor for mobile phone cameras! GASP! On the bright side, the press release also included a 28mm (35mm equivalent) wide angle lens module.

Don't think I've seen any mobile phones with this wide an angle lens yet. :)

Photography Blog's got the press release. There's a 100% crop of the image taken with the 12.25 megapixel sensor here. Looks kinda ok... could this be a miracle?

Switch

Nothing much happened this weekend, it's just passed midnight and it's officially Monday now. Time to sleep, then, forcibly wake up in a few hours, drag myself out of bed, do the morning rituals and get to work. Great. Have a great week and here's something yellow asking for a switch. It would have been much cooler if the YCF's around. :P
Good night!

Real Democracy

A Star Online article that I have missed but buddy andrewk managed to share had a really big, BIG headline that read "Penang to create opposition leader position". The state's Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the move was long overdue - in fact, 50 years overdue. The existence of this position will give the opposition (now Barisan Nasional) a place to voice their own views and most importantly, keep the current state government sharp. Totally acceptable. ;)

Little Japanese Sex

I have read that Japan is one of the countries where its citizens have sex least frequently. I think it might be the annual Durex survey. Here is another survey that further confirms it. A total of 647 men and 821 women were surveyed. A big percentage of the men felt too tired after work while the women can't be bothered with sex! :O

Dark Side of Road Users

This article that appeared in The Sun may not be a major headline but it was really scary. First of all, it confirmed my fear that Malaysian drivers are getting more and more reckless and impatient. Second, the fact that about A HUNDRED road users got irritated enough at an extremely inconsiderate motorist that went weaving around in a bumper-to-bumper jam 3am in the morning to bash him and his passengers up, painted a gloomy picture of lawlessness. It is depressing to learn what it took to blow the top off of not 1 or 2 but a 100 people. We live in dangerous times.

Backing Censorship

Looks like our country's sometimes over, sometimes relaxed but never lacking censorship of sex and violent scenes in the official media is not unfounded after all, according to this news article "Study links teen pregnancy to sexy TV shows" from Reuters. Click on the link for more details but a quick summary: A study has shown that early exposure to TV shows with excessive sex and violent scenes contributed to early teenage pregnancy and acts of violence in children.

No wonder our government also censor extreme news of corruption and wrong doing that could be true and not to mention bad politics... it is for our own good.

From Pixdaus: Baby Horse from Conception to Birth

We have seen quite a lot of human births so how about one of a horse?

Sleepy Cat

Was walking around a shopping mall yesterday and noticed this cat sleeping very peacefully on top of sacks of coals (I think). Luckily I had my newly acquired but ancient 3.2 megapixels Canon compact (still too lazy to post more about this camera :P) with me and took a couple of shots. This one is a frontal view while you can see another view here on my flickr without that string blocking.

Chicken Rice and More

My family and I have been patronising this chicken rice stall for almost a year now.
It's one of the stalls at SS2's famous food court called "Selera Malam". In fact, it is stall number 27.
The chicken, both roasted and steamed available, is tasty and the price is very reasonable by PJ/KL standards. However, we have a thing for steamed chicken, so we did not order the roasted one.
Besides that, check out the "char siew" (barbecued pork) and "siew yuk" (roasted pork):
Unlike typical sweet, thinly sliced and nothing else "char siew", this has better aroma and taste barbecued. Meanwhile, the "siew yuk" is crispy and comes in bigger chunks than your normal chicken rice stall. Here is another shot of the "siew yuk" to end this post. :P

Why Those Helicopters!!!

Truly Malaysia Boleh! Today at the Dewan Rakyat, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop informed the MPs the decision to buy the helicopters that we were about to purchase but eventually put on hold was made based on technical specifications alone! GASP! Who would have thought that there was actually no need to test fly at least one first. The deputy surely clarified that it IS different from buying a car. Hooray!

Source: NST

From Pixdaus: A Photo To Ponder

This is something we should think about when we are about to eat too much (guilty here), waste food, and have too many clothes:

Panasonic Customer Service

Since I have had my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 for 3 years now, I feel that I should mention a little about Panasonic Malaysia's customer service after I had talked about Canon's in a recent post. I really don't have anything against Panasonic's services. It is even open half day on Saturdays, convenient for people who do not work on those days to send in their sets for repairs. I personally work on alternate Saturdays, so I could send my set in for repair on my off Saturdays. Anyway, my workplace is quite near the service center, so I could just do it during lunch time... skipping lunch, of course. GASP!

However, Panasonic doesn't do any immediate repairs, rendering their customer service as plain normal in that sense. Efficiency wise, tt would take as fast as the next working day OR as slow as a week, both which I had experienced before. However, these are just my experience for my FZ30 set. Other Panasonic products do not apply here.

From Pixdaus: Seal

Cute and cuddly! Must be very nice to hug!

Canon Customer Service

Some kind soul gave me an old 3.2 megapixel Canon camera recently. The LCD was cracked but otherwise the camera was functional. I was cracking my head on how to get it fixed since I just started a new job and couldn't really go on leave. Then, I found that Canon's service center at Peremba Square is open Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) until 8pm! Wow!

Hence, I visited the service center after work earlier in the evening and was presented with another surprise! Well, not to the point where I was given a brand new camera as a replacement. :P

The guy that served me (so happened to be the manager on duty) told me that the LCD could be replaced immediately (mainly because the part was in stock and it was a simple replacement)! It cost me RM103 but I suppose it is much cheaper than a brand new compact camera. :P

With such service, I was thinking if I ever upgrade to a DSLR, maybe it might be a Canon. Previously, I was leaning towards a Nikon because the lenses appear to be cheaper but now, the pleasant customer service is indeed a strong plus point for Canon! Before I left the place, I asked the manager if I would get the same immediate service for a DSLR and his answer was if it can be repaired quickly, it is possible. Sensor cleaning and basic servicing is also immediate (free first time but a charge of RM120 subsequently applies)!

For those who might be interested in my newly acquired oldie digital camera, I shall introduce it in another post at another time. Right now, I am feeling lazy. :P

Firefox 2 vs. Opera 9.6 on a Windows 98 Desktop

Here I am ranting again about my work PC running on a Pentium III and Windows 98 with 248MB of RAM. Running Firefox 2 (Firefox 3 doesn't support Windows 98, *sob*) on it is really quite slow, especially if I have something like Gmail (or Google Reader) and another tab with Flash or something similarly "taxing". Whenever I refresh the page, the whole Firefox 2 will occasionally stall for what felt like an eternity (but is actually a few seconds). Sometimes, it might proof to be a problem to exit the web browser quickly during "emergency cases".

Since Opera has been bragging about its browser being also very fast, I had to try it out, right? So I downloaded Opera 9.6 and installed it. GASP! It is even SLOWER than Firefox 2. A Gmail or Google Reader page will take ages (much much longer than Firefox 2) to load. I guess I don't have to mention how a refresh will be like.

However, do note that all the above might only happen on my ancient work PC (I know I shouldn't complain too much because there are more ancient ones than mine in existence out there) which might be worth billions in a few billion years. So, don't let this short complain stop you from trying out Opera, yeah? ;)

Note: The above links appear to be general links. When new versions appear, these links will no longer be valid for the versions described here.

Awesome Desktop Alternative

Check out this really cool desktop alternative from BumpTop! You get a 3D desktop where you can push your files around, pin them up, stack them up and then some!



Unfortunately, to try out this private beta, you would need to register and wait for an invitation. Can't seem to find the system requirements nor which OS is it for but from the looks of the icons, it appears to be Windows. Maybe I have missed out the obvious and someone can help to point that out. :P

Here is what BumpTop might look like on your real life desk:



via LifeHacker.

A Glimpse of Fennec (Firefox Mobile)

Check out a brief video below on how Fennec works. It seems reasonably acceptable but the scrolling is kind of jerky, even on a Nokia N810 internet tablet... imagine what it will be like on my 2 year+ old PDA! But then, this is only the first alpha...

Fennec Alpha Walkthrough from Madhava Enros on Vimeo.

I'm personally using the beta version of Opera Mobile 9.5 and you can find my opinion of it here.

Link: Mozilla Links

Cili Potong!

It's been awhile since I have any of my own photos here and I am at the moment out of ideas on what to post, so I went digging and found some spice:
What sauce(s) do you like to dip your meals in?

Lens Of Vision & Expression

Digital Photography School's got a guest post on their blog titled "Reaching Out to Underprivileged Children Through Photography" about how Samantha Oulavong founded LOVE (Lens of Vision & Expression) and how she went around helping underprivileged children. Worth at least a read!

Update: Samantha Oulavong's flickr page is here and the LOVE group is here.

From Pixdaus: Panda Feast

What an ideal representation of a Sunday meal. ;)

Left High and Dry by Ever Efficient SYABAS

The area I live in has been without water supply two days ago and today since around 12pm until even now. All these happened without warning. Nothing in the papers. This also happened some weeks back. This shows how efficient the Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS) is. Just went to their website and discovered this notice:

NOTIS GANGGUAN BEKALAN AIR BERJADUAL DI SYABAS WILAYAH PETALING DAN KUALA LUMPUR
Gangguan bekalan air dijadualkan akan berlaku di beberapa kawasan di Wilayah Petaling dan Kuala Lumpur disebabkan oleh kerja-kerja pengalihan paip di Jalan Susur Jambatan Lot 673, Jalan SS20/27 Petaling Jaya yang melibatkan paip bersaiz 850 milimeter jenis ‘mild steel’.

Gangguan bekalan air yang dijadualkan berlaku pada 14 Oktober 2008 bermula jam 8.00 malam hingga 8.00 pagi keesokan harinya melibatkan kawasan seperti berikut:-

1. Wilayah Petaling
PJ North, Universiti Malaya, Penchala, Seapark, SS1 dan SS2. SS20,SS21 dam SS22, Seksyen 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 17A, 19, 20, 21 dan 22, Jalan Semangat, Phileo Damansara, Hotel Eastin dan Paramount.
2. Wilayah Kuala Lumpur Bukit Damansara

Segala kesulitan amatlah dikesali. Para pengguna dinasihatkan agar menyimpan bekalan air secukupnya serta menggunakan air secara berhemah sepanjang tempoh gangguan tersebut.

Sebarang pertanyaan atau aduan sila hubungi Pusat Perkhidmatan Pelanggan (PUSPEL) menerusi talian bebas tol 1-800-88-5252 atau melalui SMS, dengan menaip PUSPEL jarak taipkan aduan atau pertanyaan hantar ke 39222 atau lawati laman web SYABAS di www.syabas.com.my.

It says 14 October 8pm until the following morning 8am but today is only 11 October 2008. Sigh...

INSANE: Day of Testicles

Today is a day of testicles... definitely. I came across two articles about testicles. Very different articles about different things but both have testicles "in" them. One of food and another of stem cells. Read all about them in their respective links. Time for bed. Nite!!!

Run For A Cause 2008

It is that time again for the Terry Fox Run, a run for cancer research. You can learn more about Terry Fox from my previous post or from the official website. I received the following e-mail:

Hi there,

The Terry Fox Run KL 2008 will take place on 2 November 2008 (Flag off 9.00 am) at Taman Tasik Perdana (Lake Gardens). Participants are to be at the assembly area by 8.45 am. All participants must run on the designated route. To participate, you can purchase a limited edition Terry Fox 2008 T-Shirt from the following locations:

T-shirts can be purchased at

1) Ms Chan Siew Wan / Ms Lee Siew Bee at the Canadian High Commission, 17th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, Jln Tun Razak (6th October onwards)

2) Ms Yoon / Mr Peter Kang at the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF), 2nd Floor, Outpatient Centre, Subang Jaya Medical Centre (6th October onwards)

3) Ms Tila at the Foyer, Ground Floor, Menara Citibank, Jalan Ampang (12.00 to 2.00pm, 20th October until 24th October)

4) At the Lake Garden on Run Day (2nd November 2008)

Would you like to be a volunteer? Please contact Ms Jo Tan or Ms Yoon at organizer@terryfoxrunkl.org

If you have any question, please send your email to organizer@terryfxorunkl.org

We are posting latest information at http://www.1.com.my/2008/09/03/terry-fox-run-kl-2008/ too

Pin

On behalf of Terry Fox Run KL

Surf the Net on the PDA with Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta

Update 9 November 2008: Recently, using Google Reader on Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta 1 has been slow, very slow and unresponsive. It took ages for the page to render and to star or share anything. :(

Ever since Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta 1 (note: looking at the general web address, this link will not be valid for Opera Mobile 9.5 beta when a new version of Opera Mobile comes out) was released, my 2+ years old Windows Mobile 5 PDA was given a new life. Before I installed the beta, I totally hated using the PDA for any web surfing because the Internet Explorer that came with it totally sucks.

I tried Google Reader with Internet Explorer and I got the mobile version of Reader which was bad, but at that time, I suppose all mobile browsers would link to the mobile version. It does not support any form of scripting, not even Java! This means I can only visit websites that belong to years ago!

I realised that I cannot hope for desktop web browsing with the PDA (my PDA resolution is only 320 x 200 vs a typical desktop resolution of 1,024 x 768) so after awhile, I gave up and only used the PDA for notes taking and some Nintendo Gameboy emulation. Then I heard of Opera Mobile and I downloaded the then version 8 to test out. It was much better than the mobile version of Internet Explorer but still lacks the actual feel of desktop browsing that most of us became familiar with but it did let me visit websites pretending to be a desktop. The browsing was painstakingly slow, though, if I utilise that mode.

Now, with 9.5 beta, I can totally surf the net with the PDA and get the actual desktop type of web page. It can default to load a full view of the web page and I can zoom in to the portion I want by double tapping on the area. The text are formatted based on the width of the PDA so I don't need to do any horizontal scrolling.

Some cons: The response time can be slow at times. For example, I might need to click a link a few times to get it loading. It also hanged on my quite a few times. Also, at the moment, 9.5 beta doesn't support Flash so sites like Youtube is out of the question. Maybe there are some plugins available but I am not that inclined to look for it. Besides, if I need Flash, it would be better on a monitor.

With Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, I can almost use my PDA as an internet tablet, just like the Nokia N7xx or N8xx series. ALMOST because the PDA's got a small screen and it's really not geared up for hardcore net surfing. It is ok for a relaxing surf in front of the TV, though. ;)

Note: All are based on my views on my PDA only. Other devices, especially those more advanced ones will vary greatly.

Next with Melamine

Looks like melamine is not only in dairy products. According to NST, the chemical is also in vegetables. Our Health Ministry will be doing a Level 4 check on greens coming from China after Korea detected high levels of the chemical in them.

What's next for melamine? What chemicals will be the next scare? Which country will be at the center of the next scandal?

From Pixdaus: Stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I definitely need a good stretch!!!

Heading home in a moment. Aaah...

Painted Skin Theme (畫皮主題曲 - 畫心)

I have no idea what Painted Skin is about but the theme song's been playing over the radio and it sounds good! Here's a Youtube video of the theme:

From Pixdaus: Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims out there. Today and tomorrow are public holidays but I have to work both days. This photo from Pixdaus truly represents my feelings. Sigh...

Melamine Scare Side Effect?

Ever since the Chinese melamine scandal exploded out of proportion, we are becoming wary of the food they eat and recently, also the containers or packaging that the food comes in. Associated with melamine would be plastic containers and bags, as well as plastic utensils. A positive side effect to this might just be we will be more environmental conscious - bringing our own containers to store takeaway food, for example.

To be honest, I am not about to, but would one day hope to. *SHY*

INSANE: Price of Goods to go DOWN!

Sounds like good news: Prices of sundry goods to drop next month in tandem with fuel price cut. Was beginning to wonder if this will ever happen and here is Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia chairman Lean Hing Chuan saying that it will. But lets do a simple analysis over a statement from him: Merchants cannot immediately reduce the price of their goods as the items were bought when the petrol price was high.

Oh boy. This doesn't sound right. I remember that merchants (I'm not saying all, but the majority. I'm sure there are honest traders around.) couldn't wait to increase their price the last time (even with their old stocks) but when it comes to price reduction... Nothing happened when the Ringgit appreciated above the previous pegged RM3.80 to a US$1 but when there is a reason to increase price of goods... That's life.

BLESS the Convenience

I was getting tired lately with all those political talks about how and when the opposition will gain enough support to form a new government and how the current government continue to try not to be funny but a headline like "Malaysia hoping to get into top 10 of World Bank ranking" is certainly refreshing for a change. The initiative Business Licensing Electronic Support System or BLESS is meant to speed things up by providing information and other facilities for license applications. According to the article, it was launched by the Prime Minister on 5 September and had since received 9 applications. And since its soft launch in May, it had some 32,000 hits.

So, out of curiosity, I went to the website and found this (as of 2153 hours):
I hope this is not an indication of any efficiency issues but instead it is down for further improvement. ;)

Despicable Humans: Melamine Tainted Dairy Products

Update 23 September 2008: Here is a list of safe milk products from our Health Ministry brought to my attention by buddy andrewk. An official list that we can trust rather than those unverified ones we receive via e-mails.

Over the past couple of weeks, there were widespread news about melamine tinted milk powder from giant Chinese milk producer Sanlu which caused kidney stones and complications in infants and children, killing at least 3. Over the days, with pressure from various quarters and some reports claimed, from the New Zealand government, Chinese officials and chairwoman of Sanlu were sacked. There were also reports that the Chinese government and Sanlu were slow to react to this crisis. Consumers, primarily parents, queued for refunds and countries such as Singapore issued bans and demand official explanations. Hong Kong also found yogurt from Yili tinted with melamine.

The fact was greedy humans used melamine (a chemical used to make plastics and tanning in leather) to disguise low levels of proteins in milk so that they can sell the it at face value. It some how also 'escaped' detection in lab tests. You can find here further definitions on Google on what melamine is and its uses, including:

1. Melamine is an organic base with the chemical formula C3H6N6, with the IUPAC name 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine. It is only slightly soluble in water.
   
2. Solid-colored laminate material that is both durable and easy to clean. It is stain and mark-resistant and also heat-tolerant.
3. A slick plastic-like material used to cover a substrate of particleboard or MDF.
4. A strong aromatic heterocyclic base, tri-amino-triazine, used, in combination with formaldehyde to manufacture melamine resins such as Formica.
   

Some of the online articles that covered this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Disabled Tortoise Fitted With Wheels Find Romance

Arava is a female tortoise whose hind legs were paralysed due to unexplained circumstances. The 55 pounds tortoise was not able to move with her front legs alone. However, staffs at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, where Arava is, built a set of wheels and strapped them to her body. A National Geographic News Video showed that Arava is able to move around now but would still need human intervention whenever she overturns. A male tortoise has been trying to court her ever since. :)

There is also a short article and a couple of photos (including the one below) over at LiveScience.

I Caught a Fly...

... with my FZ30. :P

Sunset @ Pangkor

Took this photo about 2 months ago during a weekend at Pangkor Island. My first real sunset photo. Edited with Gimp by changing the levels to enhance and bring out the fiery sunset colours while darkening other areas:
Do check out the original unedited photo in my flickr page here.

World's First Micro Four Thirds

One of the most anticipated, but kind of expected, news from Panasonic (Olympus should be next since these two are the Four Thirds manufacturers) is the first Micro Four Thirds digital camera, the DMC-G1. Can't call it a DSLR since there is no mirror involved but still this is a inter-changeable lens system. Read about the release from various photography websites but do check out Panasonic's official website here for the official stuff.

Not sure how many of you are interested but I am rather excited to see a smaller body (since there are no more mirror boxes to reflect whatever caught by the lens to the optical viewfinder as in a (D)SLR) with inter-changeable lens system. The features for the G1 are all over the website. However, the red and blue colours are kinda weird for this kind of a more serious camera but maybe Panasonic is trying to target a wider range of audience. DPReview's got an exclusive preview.

Update: One of the first negative thing I noticed is the battery life. By using the LCD and/or what Panasonic calls the LVF (Live View Finder), battery life is limited to 330/350 shots (CIPA Standard).

President Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt staying in a hotel that raised a fire alarm. He was evacuated by his security team and here is what IMDb got:

An eyewitness says, "It was total chaos. His security team immediately decided to evacuate Brad to avoid any possible threat. He was surrounded by eight security men and four policemen - it was crazy. It was as if Brad was the president!"

Despicable Humans

I thought our crazy politicians were bad, but after reading this Star Online article about two f***ed up a**h****s taking advantage of a mentally disabled woman and repeatedly raping her until she is now 7 months pregnant is an act of... of... I couldn't even find the words to express my disgust with these two beyond animal shit. Can't continue anymore with this post.

Interesting Stuff at a Convocation

It's been awhile since I last was involved in a convocation. Something like 10 years ago. Was in one yesterday and found a couple of interesting stuff. There was this young graduate in a robe who was wearing a pair of not so up to the occasion shoes with the laces untied:
There was also this other guy sitting in front of me filming the convocation proceedings with his handycam. What attracted my attention was his cool earrings:

The Very Successful Ahmad Ismail

I must say, this chief of a certain UMNO division is very successful. Ever since he called Malaysian Chinese "pendatang" (immigrants in our Malaysian national language), he has made himself well known. He's got the whole Chinese community totally pissed... I mean very worked up. Previously, I know shit nothing about him but now, at least I know he is chief of some division. I guess he has not done enough, though, to make me want to know what division...

A few days ago, the prime minister couldn't even find him but yesterday he came out and said that he wouldn't apologise for saying that. Well, nevermind that Malaysian Chinese are part of Malaysia and have contributed to the country. He even got the deputy prime minister and the whole UMNO apologise for him but he just won't apologise himself. After very happily declaring that the Malaysian Chinese are immigrants for some time now, today he surfaced again because he wants us to know that he was referring to history: A time when the British ruled this country and brought the Chinese in as labourers. That is why he did not find the need to apologise. He was just giving a history lesson during a recent pre-election speech.

Ahmad Ismail also insisted that a Chinese daily twisted his history lesson. Well, like what my buddy, andrewk, said, let him be. The next election will show how many people believe that it's indeed a history lesson being twisted and turned. Wonder if this will affect his party, too?

Wow, I've managed to say all these quite gently, I must say. I hope the MCMC won't want to block this blog. :)

It Takes Ages for New LRT Trains to Arrive

Before I read this NST Online article, I did not know that there were any plans to have additional Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains for the Kelana Jaya Putra line. Anyway, according to this article, the new 4-car trains were ordered in 2006 and will only be operational September 2009. This will expand the capacity from 160,000 to 350,000 passengers.

The reason for the long period is the need to upgrade power capabilities, safety testing and the supplier has to build the trains from scratch, which is the norm in the industry. Sounds kind of ridiculous but I am no train expert here.

When Will Canon Go Green?

Update: Saw the website. Kind of too much contents and not very structured for me to checkout. Couldn't access the Flash showing what green photos others have uploaded. All I see was 64 more... more of what? 64 more people to upload? 64 more before it is closed? Anyways, bravo for Canon to take the step to go green.

Saw the advertisement in The Sun newspaper this morning. Saw the advertisements on billboards along the road on the way to work but when I went to the website, all I got was a coming soon... later today, I suppose.

Malaysian Restaurant Service Tax

A recent article from The Star Online reported that now only 435 restaurants are still eligible to charge service tax from 1 July 2008 after the government increased sales threshold from RM500,000 to RM3 million. There used to be 4,800 restaurants that can legally charge service tax. You can find the list of the 435 restaurants here. So fellow consumers, BEWARE!

I would like to add that The Star Online article stated that we can check on the list of the restaurants from the customs website, so naturally, I went to our government portal www.gov.my to look for it. I tried a search but nothing came up. Guess what gave me the right website? Google. Sigh...

Merdeka Eve Donut Fantasy

Tomorrow's Malaysia's 51st National Day and right now, I am fantasizing about donuts. One of the reasons was my phone bill came in this envelope:

Who Will Win @ Permatang Pauh? Anwar New Permatang Pauh MP and Opposition Leader

Who? With a lot of dirty tactics, maybe the evil one might just win, but lets not guess. The verdict will be out in a few more hours. Meanwhile, New Straits Times has an unofficial figure of 38,144 people who came out to vote earlier today.

Update 1: Based on opposition blogs by Elizabeth Wong and Lim Kit Siang, the majority goes to Anwar Ibrahim... a majority more than his wife Wan Azizah received.

Update 2: It's official. Anwar Ibrahim is back in parliament. Both Star Online and NST carry the results. Anwar 31,195, Arif Shah 15,524 and the other dude 92 votes.

INSANE: Touch 'n Go Cards Expire After 10 Years

I first read of this terrible news from Star Online and went to the Touch 'n Go website for more information... but are you kidding me? The Touch 'n Go cards can actually expire? Let me read the following again...
... From what I can understand from the above, the cards will stop functioning or be disabled once they reach their 10-year life span. This is ridiculous! What a way to make more money. Cheaters!!!

For more information, visit the totally evil Touch 'n Go website: http://www.touchngo.com.my

From flickr: Fu Long with his birthday cake

Fu Long with his birthday cake
Originally uploaded by Vera Le Bail.

What a wonderful cake!

Pandas in Malaysia? :O

Update 1 January 2009: Here we go again... another press release on hopes of us getting giant pandas from China. This time, it includes ringtail lemurs, white tigers, and golden monkeys.

According to a Star Online article last Friday, our Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said that our Zoo Negara officials will go to China in October to discuss about the exchange for a panda with an orang utan. He mentioned that our Prime Minister had expressed his wish for a panda to signify our two countries' close ties.

I will be so happy if we do get a panda but I am more concerned with the zoo's capability in taking care of it. It is not just a mere animal. This is a panda! Where to get tonnes of bamboo that is not native here? How are our researchers able to help advance in the research and development of the panda? This is not just a play play thing or any Malaysia Boleh thing. This is a PANDA! P-A-N-D-A!

What do you think? Are we capable? We have not even settle on our political issues such as who is the next prime minister (one that swears or one that refuses to?) lest take care of a panda? But then, there is of course the fact that we have to get the agreement from China first...

More Friends' Blogs

Just added a couple of blog links of my friends as indicated by the red arrows. One is Throwing My Windows Away by my friend ascii_t (it's got nothing to do with renovations for a window-less house but instead it details his adventure in installing a non-Windows operating system) and another is by Booker because she blogs there, too! :D Booker is the first to set a new record on my blog... the only friend with two blog links.

Cheers!

From Pixdaus: Two Worlds One Dream

Two worlds but with one dream to prosper, perhaps?

Orphan Colin the Whale to be Euthanised

Few days back, when I first read that a baby humpback whale calf thought that a yacht was its mother and tried to suckle from it (video on National Geographic News) I found it funny but, instead, it was a tragedy. First of all, the calf, named Colin, was thought to be rejected by its mother. Australian rescuers had tried to lure the calf to a passing whale pod by towing the yacht out to sea in hope that Colin will find a surrogate mother but found the calf returned the next day.

Now, the condition of the calf has deteriorated with shark bite wounds and breathing difficulties. It is not expected to live past tonight. Hence, the calf will be put down after dark with a lethal dose of anaesthetic to end its suffering... a way that we humans feel is most humane.

Manga IonBuck

Finally, IonBuck's identity is revealed! My buddy andrewk made a manga version of me. I particularly like the smiley on the round neck T-shirt. Thanks, bud!

Worm-Like Snake

Not only is Leptotyphlops carlae the smallest snake, it might possibly be the smallest possible snake, said biologist Blair Hedges. Any smaller, its offspring might not be able to find food and consume insects on its own. At about 10cm, it looks like an earthworm. The snake, found in Barbados, is on the verge of extinction due to deforestation and the fact that the species only live in the remaining few square kilometers of forest.

Source: National Geographic News "World's Smallest Snake Discovered, Study Says"

Some Positive Politics?

While our country, riddled with racial and criminal activities such as corruption and increase in crime rate, faces a possible economic downturn, radical Islamic opposition party PAS' 10,000 strong non-Muslim supporters propose a new-wing called Dewan Penyokong PAS. Meanwhile, Gerakan, a component party of the current ruling coalition, contemplates the issue of pulling out.

Are these signs of hope?

INSANE Despicable Humans: Farm Animal Cruelty

I'm a regular meat eater and I love to eat meat. Nothing compares to meat. However, because us humans cannot do without vegetables, I have to take them, too. Not that I don't like vegetables. I used to dislike them, but nowadays, they are ok. Nothing compares to meat, though. However, the following video proves to be very disturbing. It shows how farm animals, pigs, chicken and cows, are treated in farms in the United States. Caged in cramped spaces to the verge of insanity, beaks cut off without regards to pain, modified feeds to obtain the best meat and weak animals left to die are some of the real life issues faced by these animals highlighted in the video. Now we can understand why there are many vegetarians out there. Not meant to be insensitive, I shall remain to be a meat person for now. Maybe one day I will turn vegetarian, too.

Source: Celsias "A Win for Animal Cruelty Prevention; Factory Farming Practices Ruled Not Humane"

A Working Saturday *sob*

Gasp! Today is a working Saturday for me. It has been a loooooooooong time since my last working Saturday. Woke up early like any other working day and went to work. The only benefit that I can see for a working Saturday is the road has less cars. Other than that... well, I really don't like to work on Saturdays! :(

On a positive note, it's a half day and it's alternate... but still... WORKING SATURDAYS! NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo...

Limited to No Internet Access

Gone for a short break the last few days and had no access to internet. Initially, before I left, I had a sense of doom... WHAT? NO INTERNET FOR SO MANY DAYS? But in the end, those internet-less days were not so bad after all. Had plenty of moments to relax instead of sitting in front of a computer (do people still call them computers these days? Or are they PCs or laptops or notebooks?). Still, all my internet addiction broke loose when I came back last night. :P

Well, looks like my internet access will continue to be limited (night time @ home only) as I will be going for long sessions of training for weeks or even months. :(

Finally, It Rains

At last, the sky opened up and now it is raining, washing away weeks of dust and haze from the air! Not to mention the cooling effect! Aaah... can you smell the rain?

INSANE: Motorola's New Co-CEO Package

I am totally envious with what the new co-CEO of Motorola, Sanjay Jha, is getting (according to the Fortune blog):

The new guy will have plenty of incentive to make good on that pledge to turn Moto’s phone business around. On top of his $1.2 million salary and annual cash bonus of up to $2.4 million, Jha’s welcome package includes personal use of the corporate jet, relocation expenses, a promise to make him whole if he loses money on the sale of his home in San Diego, and another promise to pay him $30 million in cash if Motorola fails to spin off the cell phone division before November 2010. He will be entitled to stock options worth 3% of the mobile devices division if it is made independent before that deadline. And of course, there are the equity awards: 3.67 million restricted stock units with a present value of more than $35 million, which he will receive over the next three years; and an option to buy 16.6 million shares at current prices.

And I had corn flakes for lunch. :(

10 Seconds Exposure Along the Highway

Took this photo early in the morning while traveling along the North-South Highway. Manually set the shutter speed to 10 seconds and adjusted the aperture to f/5.6. No skill here. I just like f/5.6 at that time and 10 seconds seem quite reasonable to get long streaks of lights. Further enhanced the photo using curves with the open source photo editing software, Gimp.

Taken with my faithful Panasonic DMC-FZ30. :D Still hopping to get a compact carry every where camera... but that would probably be next year... and beyond (!!!). Another Panasonic? Or a Fuji Finepix? Or the more commercialised Canon or Nikon? Hmmm... whichever that fits my requirement at the time of purchase, I guess.

Brace for Another Haze Season

Update: The Malaysia Meteorological Department reported that the hotspots have since reduced to 284 due to more water vapour and moisture in the atmosphere.

Looks like the haze season was kind of delayed this year but the report on Star Online indicates that it is now imminent. About 531 forest fire hotspots in Sumatera, Indonesia and a 40ha site as near as Dengkil, Selangor. At the moment, Port Klang is the only area with the unhealthy air classification.

From Pixdaus: Polar Coolness

What a refreshing block of iced fruits... aaah...

*Snap!* Back to reality! Back to the hot and humid weather. It had not rained for days.

INSANE: Free Parking @ 1 Utama

I was rather shocked to find a popular shopping mall like 1 Utama to offer free parking for Wednesdays throughout the Malaysia Mega Sale period (5 July till 1 September 2008). Totally unexpected... or have they done something like this before?

Drink From Bras and Bellies

Drink wine from bras and beer from bellies:Source: Oddly Enough "Her cups runneth over?"

Jam Packed Federal Highway

Was on the way to Mid Valley for a gathering with some visitors last Friday night and got caught up in a jam along the Federal Highway. Since I brought my camera out, I've managed a couple of photos, the first being a normal shot, while the one at the bottom was my attempt at being artistic. :P